Cameron nice fit for LSU

BATON ROUGE - One need only look at Cam Cameron's resume and read LSU coach Les Miles' words to realize that LSU's offense just got a lot better and that no one needs to worry about who's calling the plays.

"It's not going to make any difference who's the offensive coordinator as long as Miles has his hands in it," I heard someone say as LSU was moved closer to hiring Cam Cameron as its offensive coordinator a week ago. That is the sentiment of many around the LSU program, and it is wrong.

It is always better to have good and great assistant coaches regardless of what the head coach does or does not do. Cameron, a former offensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and San Diego Chargers, was a very good offensive coordinator hire last Friday.

In fact, at the time of the hiring, Cameron is the greatest offensive coordinator in LSU history. Overall in the history of LSU, Jimbo Fisher - who served from 2000-06 - was the best offensive coordinator in LSU history. But at the time he was hired, Fisher had been an offensive coordinator for only one year at Cincinnati after working as Auburn's quarterbacks coach from 1993-1998, though not calling plays.

Gary Crowton was an experienced coordinator when he got the job in 2007, having headed up offenses at Oregon and with the Chicago Bears as well as being a head coach at Louisiana Tech and BYU. Steve Kragthorpe had an equally impressive resume when he got the job in 2011, having been a head coach at Tulsa and Louisville and an offensive coordinator at Texas A&M as well as a quarterbacks coach at Buffalo in the NFL.

Cameron has head coaching experience in the NFL at Miami, though it was very bad at 1-15, and at Indiana University, where he was respectable at a historically weak program. More importantly, he has been an NFL offensive coordinator for nearly a decade at San Diego and Baltimore, and most of his seasons were very successful.

Never has LSU had a play caller with as much experience in the league, and today's NFL is an extremely sophisticated clique of offensive geniuses that is constantly improving.

Cameron replaces an offensive coordinator in Greg Studrawa, whose previous experience when he got the LSU job in 2011 after Kragthorpe got sick was as the offensive coordinator at Bowling Green. Studrawa, who learned under an offensive genius in his own right in Urban Meyer, did a very good job as LSU's offensive coordinator. But his experience in 2011 compared to Cameron's now is like night and day.

Miles thought highly of Crowton when he hired him as offensive coordinator, but there is no offensive coach Miles has ever hired or worked with while at LSU that he respects more than Cameron, and that is only partly because the two are old coaching buddies from their days at Michigan under Bo Schembechler.

Miles will still be involved and make game decisions as much as he ever has, but the person he will be talking to as he makes them or decides not to make them will be more qualified than anyone Miles has spoken to on the offensive headphones since he has been at LSU.

And it will make a difference on the field.

"He's called plays, really for a career," said Miles, who has not.

No, LSU's offense is not going to change drastically in strategy and philosophy, but it will get better, and that's more important.

"The disruption in our thinking is not something that we are looking to do," Miles said. "We want to use Cam's concepts as it is appropriate and how it fits what we have done in the past. What I'm saying is that we have some inherent strengths."

Those are running the ball and controlling the ball. "Reviewing our personnel and being more efficient can rapidly make a difference offensively," Miles said.

And how. LSU's problems with the passing game since 2008 has had far less to do with what Miles was doing and what whatever offensive coordinator was doing than with the personnel. Zach Mettenberger is the first decent quarterback LSU has had since 2007 with Matt Flynn.

If Miles was more involved than usual when Studrawa was the offensive coordinator, that is understandable. Miles would not have made Studrawa his offensive coordinator under normal circumstances. Kragthorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and it was about the only move Miles could make at the time.

Miles has had his eye on Cameron for some time. Cameron visited LSU's spring practices in recent years. He went to LSU's national championship victory over Ohio State.

"I enjoy the fact that he and I have a lifetime relationship," Miles said. "He brings a lot to the table."

Miles fell out of harmony with both Fisher and Crowton as their coordinator years went on at LSU. Each was different than Miles at the beginning and throughout their work history under Miles. Miles and Cameron start out on the same page. They will not have to work to get there. They are both Michigan men and proud Bo boys, but they like to pass much more than you think.

You will see.

"There is nobody winning games in this sport turning the football over," Cameron said. "Does that mean you play conservative? Absolutely not. You have to play smart, aggressive football. It has to have a physical nature to it. That is the way we were raised. We are not apologizing for it. I was in an office with Les at Michigan. He's one of the toughest men around. I know what he brings to the table. I know the mindset this team has. I know our offense is going to carry the torch as well."

Cameron will win more arguments with Miles than Fisher and Crowton put together. He will get his way more than any other LSU offensive coordinator under Miles, because Miles has that much faith in him.

Fisher, Crowton and Studrawa needed this job. Cameron didn't. He wouldn't be coming here unless he knew he was getting the power. Listen how he answered a question Friday about control of the offense.

"I would be crazy not to work with Les as we are putting together game plans and as the game is called," he said, already sounding in control. "I know there will be communication."

Sounds like he has decided to allow it.

"I'm looking forward to the way we are going to work together," Cameron said. "That's what we talked about, and that is what we will do."

Cameron will not be completely in control of the offense as, say, John Chavis is of the LSU defense, but he will be closer to that than any previous offensive coordinator at LSU under Miles.

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Cameron nice fit for LSU

BATON ROUGE - One need only look at Cam Cameron's resume and read LSU coach Les Miles' words to realize that LSU's offense just got a lot better and that no one needs to worry about who's calling the